Was that Zos Saira guy here?

　One of the mermaids working on our farm is Puffa, who is known as the 'Frozen Witch'.
　He didn't seem to notice that Zos Saira, who is also a mermaid and has the title of 'Witch', was visiting the farm.

' ... no, I was so busy making fermented foods that I've been holed up in the brewery the whole time.
You've been working with the satyrs, trying to make all kinds of cheese, right?

Gala Rufa, the "Plague Witch" said.
　She is also curious about the lactic acid bacteria that is an indispensable part of fermented milk, and she spends a lot of time studying them while she is doing her main job of brewing sake.
　You fungus fanatic.

Is she the 'Abyssal Witch' that you've been hearing about?　I don't believe I've ever met you.
'The lamprey was just hunting in the mountain dungeon, wasn't it?

Lampwick's "Hellfire Witch".
　And there's even my wife, Prati the Crowned Witch....

''Our six demonesses are all here.
""Don't call me that!" It is!

　I was pissed off by all of them with an awesome sword fight.
　Do you hate it that much?　What do they call the Mad Six Demonesses?

'I hate you!　It looks like a child who can't fully grow up is trying to make himself look bigger than he is, isn't it?　I'm so hot!　I'm going full throttle!
I, too, can't help but feel embarrassed that I'm being watched by such a jolly little kid...!
Why don't we simply call it 'The Six Witches'? Because there are six witches.
I'm going to beat the crap out of you. First one to say something crazy.

　And the name of the team is very unpopular with everyone.
　Apparently there is the equivalent of a mid-life crisis in this world as well, and it's looked at with a white eye by the majority of the public.

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, if Zos Saira's guy was here, you should have said hello. The next time you get the impression that he's using his absence, you'll be in trouble...!
Mr. Puffa, how do you know her?
He's just a teacher of mine.　I was drilled into the basics of Potions.
'Ho, the oldest of the six witches, the Witch of the Abyss, has an apprentice.
'Well, they're both mentors and disciples, so they're both twinks.
'What's a tsundere?!

　Pahwa doesn't know the meaning of the word itself, but the sound of it leads her to believe that she's not being complimentary.
　Well, she's a tsundere, right?

　So I suddenly say exactly what I was thinking.

''Even though they're called the Mad Six Demonesses, don't they all know each other?''
The Six Witches.

　He was adamantly corrected.

'That's right, the Six Witches is the name of a group that spontaneously arose from rumors on the street to begin with.
''Simply, 'Who's the top class female potions user this time of year? And it just happened to be six people who were picked up by me. And those six people just happened to be Atay and the others, right?

　So until the rumors were sufficiently seared, the people involved didn't even know that they had been chosen as one of the six best people.
　They were embarrassed to be called "crazy" or "crazy".

The selection process was based on the idea of selecting the top class in various fields. I didn't know about the others at all. This is the first time I've met them here.

　And Gala Rufa.

I'm not sure if I've ever met a person before, but the only person I've ever met beforehand is the royal guard's lump eye. That lump-eye wasn't part of the royal guard, so we weren't that close to each other either.......
I'm blissfully happy to be in charge of guarding the Princess Platy in person on this farm!
Don't you think you'll do some brewing?

　And.
　So the gathering of the six witches, which is only a dream in the home country of mermaids, is made up of this farm.
　It's something extravagant and awful.

"Hmm, well then...

　The Six Witches, that means there are six members, right?

　There are four of us on this farm, Prati, Pfafa, Lampay and Gala Rufa.
　Add in Zos Saira, who has come to visit us from time to time, and there are five of us.

　If you say there are six in all, there must be one more.

'What is the sixth witch like?

　As for me, I was completely curious, but the question caused all of us to shush.

''The last of the six witches.......the 'Dark Witch'.......!
'We've confirmed it's real, haven't we?　We got an eyewitness account, didn't we?
I hear that testimony has become less and less reliable lately...!　There's a theory out there that I misidentified as a dugong. The 'Dark Witch' controversy is back to square one.
I subscribe to the illusion of light refraction theory!

　Why is it so ambiguous?
　Why are you adding such a vague entity to the Six Witches?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　* * * *

　Since this is a mermaid story, I have another recent episode to share with you.

　I gave something to Gala Rufa as a gift.

　Gala Rufa is known as the 'Plague Witch' among the Six Witches, and she's the only progressive child in this other world who has noticed the existence of fungi.

　After the elves joined the group and they began producing glass, she had a desire to make certain things out of it.

　The glass was distorted to make lenses.
　The lenses were put together to make a microscope.

　This would allow him to observe invisible bacteria.

　Other than the lens, the other parts of the microscope were mostly made of wood, and its performance was generations inferior to the most advanced in the world that I was in before.

　Still, Gala Rufa was super happy when I gave it to her.

I'll be able to see the difference between the two.

　And so on.
　I don't even know if it's joy or surprise. At the very least, I'd like to hear a strange voice that I can hear in human language.

　I immediately take a peek at a drop of water collected from the rice field and put it on the prepalaat.
　Gala Rufa is delighted again.

'Saints!　I'm buzzing!　So the little thing you see with these tools is a germ?
You're looking at it through a lens.

　And maybe that's an elephant beetle.

Great!　This is a great way to advance our research!　I love you, Saint!　I love it!　I love you!　I love it!
..........

　Gala Rufa-chan calls out a series of rather pompous things with ease.

''........Master?''

　I didn't notice Prathi standing behind me at all.

'You want Gala Rufa as your side room?　Well, I'd be more comfortable with my own people in my bedchamber too, but?

　No, no?
　I gave her the microscope as a gift because my desire to create it just happened to match the situation....
　I don't have any ulterior motive........
　.........I'm glad you're this happy, but.......

It's up to you to decide how many mistresses you want to have. You must give him the same amount of affection. I won't allow you to do anything but pinch and eat, as I'm the rightful owner of the room.

　I don't need a nail in the coffin!
　And he just casually agreed to cheat on me?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　******

　One last thing on the mermaid front.
　I found myself talking to a saint at the bottom of a sea that Kidan had never heard of.

"So, what about Princess Platy the Crowned Witch...?
'Yes, if the rumours at the court are to be believed, it is unlikely that he will return. It's a lifetime exile to land, which is the equivalent of hell.
"This is good, 'The Freezing Cold Witch,' 'The Hellfire Witch,' and 'The Pestilential Witch' have all been imprisoned, and the others are fugitives and have been barred from the public eye.
''In effect, the Mad Six Demonesses can be said to be destroyed.
'Then I suppose our time has come at last. The best witch in mermaid country, truly to be admired. The noble, graceful, genuine elite of witches...

""The Five Orthodox Witches!"

"Woof woof...!　Watch me, Sister Platy!　After you're gone, the Mermaid Kingdom Wizarding World will be run by me and my comrades!